[billtboys]

Here's a nice bonus for NightHawk owners. Now that HiFiman has changed their proprietary cabling of some of their cans, the AudioQuest 2.5mms cables are interchangeable with the 400is and the HE 1000s.  A lot of people aren't satisfied with the 400is short cable and the stiffness of the HE 1000 cords. You may want to take a walk with your NightHawks and prefer the 400i's short cable. 

 

[nmatheis]

Nighthawks were on my "must listen" list for RMAF, and I was not disappointed. After a minute of two adjusting to the sound, they sounded very smooth, organic, and natural. I was impressed enough that I wanted to buy them on the spot, but I held back to give myself time to wander around, mull it over, and listen to some other headphones first.

Right after listening to Nighthawk, Skylar's wife was kind enough to give me a sneak peek at Nightowl. She was great. We chatted quite a bit before I listened, giving me some of the back story. Nightowl, as has been mentioned previously in this thread, is a different beast. To my ears, with the same source and songs in quick roughly volume matched A/B, Nightowl had more focused sound with tighter bass, more distant mids, more prominent upper mids, and crisper treble. They are still in the same vein as the Nighthawks, but with a bit more conventional sound signature that I'm sure a lot of headfi'ers will appreciate. Personally, the A/B process made me appreciate the Nighthawks even more. Thanks again for the personal attention and the sneak peek. It was fun!

Long story short, after wandering around CanJam all day, I returned to the AQ booth at 5:30 for a quick listen to confirm that Nighthawks were what I'd be taking home, and she enough I ended walking out with a pair and an awesome Nighthawk t-shirt.

SkylarGray: Awesome job tuning these, man. I'll be in the lookout for more of your work in the future!

 

[Jackpot77]

Nighthawks were on my "must listen" list for RMAF, and I was not disappointed. After a minute of two adjusting to the sound, they sounded very smooth, organic, and natural. I was impressed enough that I wanted to buy them on the spot, but I held back to give myself time to wander around, mull it over, and listen to some other headphones first.

Right after listening to Nighthawk, Skylar's wife was kind enough to give me a sneak peek at Nightowl. She was great. We chatted quite a bit before I listened, giving me some of the back story. Nightowl, as has been mentioned previously in this thread, is a different beast. To my ears, with the same source and songs in quick roughly volume matched A/B, Nightowl had more focused sound with tighter bass, more distant mids, more prominent upper mids, and crisper treble. They are still in the same vein as the Nighthawks, but with a bit more conventional sound signature that I'm sure a lot of headfi'ers will appreciate. Personally, the A/B process made me appreciate the Nighthawks even more. Thanks again for the personal attention and the sneak peek. It was fun!

Long story short, after wandering around CanJam all day, I returned to the AQ booth at 5:30 for a quick listen to confirm that Nighthawks were what I'd be taking home, and she enough I ended walking out with a pair and an awesome Nighthawk t-shirt.

SkylarGray: Awesome job tuning these, man. I'll be in the lookout for more of your work in the future!

Glad you have joined the appreciation society for these pieces of work, nmatheis- I don't have experience with many high end over or on ears as the NH are one of my first "serious" headphone purchases, but nothing I've tried since (either purchased or at Canjam) have come close enough to make me consider trading up from the Nighthawks. Great piece of engineering, and amazing organic sound. Heard the Nightowls as a sneak peek at Canjam London, and while similar, I think I'll be sticking to the NH myself as well.

 

[RedJohn456]

Nighthawks were on my "must listen" list for RMAF, and I was not disappointed. After a minute of two adjusting to the sound, they sounded very smooth, organic, and natural. I was impressed enough that I wanted to buy them on the spot, but I held back to give myself time to wander around, mull it over, and listen to some other headphones first.

Right after listening to Nighthawk, Skylar's wife was kind enough to give me a sneak peek at Nightowl. She was great. We chatted quite a bit before I listened, giving me some of the back story. Nightowl, as has been mentioned previously in this thread, is a different beast. To my ears, with the same source and songs in quick roughly volume matched A/B, Nightowl had more focused sound with tighter bass, more distant mids, more prominent upper mids, and crisper treble. They are still in the same vein as the Nighthawks, but with a bit more conventional sound signature that I'm sure a lot of headfi'ers will appreciate. Personally, the A/B process made me appreciate the Nighthawks even more. Thanks again for the personal attention and the sneak peek. It was fun!

Long story short, after wandering around CanJam all day, I returned to the AQ booth at 5:30 for a quick listen to confirm that Nighthawks were what I'd be taking home, and she enough I ended walking out with a pair and an awesome Nighthawk t-shirt.

@SkylarGray: Awesome job tuning these, man. I'll be in the lookout for more of your work in the future!

I am glad you liked them man. I am finding myself really falling for them day after day. They honestly sound like speakers to me. more so than the Nad viso HP50 ever did. The NH seems more to my taste in that case, can;t wait to try the new pads

 

[Soundizer]

+1. Just got these and not even close to being broken it (nor my brain) but my initial thought is the pad with leakage would be good...when I pull these off my ear slightly to break the seal, I feel like the overall balance is better. Technically, though, I think they are very good, at least.

The nighthawks don't have a break in period, but they do become more enjoyable as you use them and adjust to their sound signature. I've found when wearing glasses and breaking the seal of the pads that the bass is greatly reduced.

The designer stated at least 150 hours before the sound is presented the way it is intended to be. I made a big mistake of returning my first Nighthawks after only listening to them for about 30hours. Later on i visited a Hifi Dealer and listened to 6 headphones including the Nighthawks. I was hesitant about listening to the Nighthawks having just returned them a week ago. However these Demo Nighthawks at the Dealer had 300 plus hours in and they were instantly amazing.

I decided to buy the Nighthawks even though I was expecting to buy Audeze EL8 or LCD2.

My current Nighthawks have just about 150hours in and are also amazing, getting better and better. So smooth and natural. Brilliant with my Chord Mojo.

 

[betula]

The designer stated at least 150 hours before the sound is presented the way it is intended to be. I made a big mistake of returning my first Nighthawks after only listening to them for about 30hours. Later on i visited a Hifi Dealer and listened to 6 headphones including the Nighthawks. I was hesitant about listening to the Nighthawks having just returned them a week ago. However these Demo Nighthawks at the Dealer had 300 plus hours in and they were instantly amazing.

I decided to buy the Nighthawks even though I was expecting to buy Audeze EL8 or LCD2.

My current Nighthawks have just about 150hours in and are also amazing, getting better and better. So smooth and natural. Brilliant with my Chord Mojo.

I also sold my first Nighthawks after 30-40 hrs listening, and I also consider this as a mistake. My present NHs have around 200 hrs so far, and I find the change in sound clearly audible after burn in, it opens up quite a bit. Brilliant headphones.
I also use them with Mojo.

 

[elnero]

Nighthawks were on my "must listen" list for RMAF, and I was not disappointed. After a minute of two adjusting to the sound, they sounded very smooth, organic, and natural. I was impressed enough that I wanted to buy them on the spot, but I held back to give myself time to wander around, mull it over, and listen to some other headphones first.

Right after listening to Nighthawk, Skylar's wife was kind enough to give me a sneak peek at Nightowl. She was great. We chatted quite a bit before I listened, giving me some of the back story. Nightowl, as has been mentioned previously in this thread, is a different beast. To my ears, with the same source and songs in quick roughly volume matched A/B, Nightowl had more focused sound with tighter bass, more distant mids, more prominent upper mids, and crisper treble. They are still in the same vein as the Nighthawks, but with a bit more conventional sound signature that I'm sure a lot of headfi'ers will appreciate. Personally, the A/B process made me appreciate the Nighthawks even more. Thanks again for the personal attention and the sneak peek. It was fun!

Long story short, after wandering around CanJam all day, I returned to the AQ booth at 5:30 for a quick listen to confirm that Nighthawks were what I'd be taking home, and she enough I ended walking out with a pair and an awesome Nighthawk t-shirt.

@SkylarGray: Awesome job tuning these, man. I'll be in the lookout for more of your work in the future!

Glad to hear you liked them enough to pick up a pair! Considering you, Jackpot77 and I seem to share similar sonic preferences I figured they'd be right up your alley.
 
Thanks for the impressions of the NightOwl as well, I'm really looking forward to hearing more of Skylar's creations myself.
 
A NightHawk t-shirt! You have to post a pic and @SkylarGray needs to tell us where we can get them.

 

[JezR]

I want a T-shirt as well to pair with my NH's, I'm sure it will make them sound even better I just picked up a pair from a member here for a really good price, paired with my Mojo they sound fantastic. Looking forward to reading some more about the Nightowl's when they're out. 

 

[jarnopp]

The designer stated at least 150 hours before the sound is presented the way it is intended to be. I made a big mistake of returning my first Nighthawks after only listening to them for about 30hours. Later on i visited a Hifi Dealer and listened to 6 headphones including the Nighthawks. I was hesitant about listening to the Nighthawks having just returned them a week ago. However these Demo Nighthawks at the Dealer had 300 plus hours in and they were instantly amazing.

I decided to buy the Nighthawks even though I was expecting to buy Audeze EL8 or LCD2.

My current Nighthawks have just about 150hours in and are also amazing, getting better and better. So smooth and natural. Brilliant with my Chord Mojo.

45 hours now and counting. I'll wait until 200 hours, and will try not to listen again to separate any burn-in from brain burn in. Will also be using Mojo, so should be able to give some comparable impressions.

 

[v4lve]

45 hours now and counting. I'll wait until 200 hours, and will try not to listen again to separate any burn-in from brain burn in. Will also be using Mojo, so should be able to give some comparable impressions.

It really is something. Count me among the early dismissals. Relegated them to computer duty after what I thought was an honest attempt and eventually they opened up into something way more enjoyable than anticipated.
 
I'm currently browsing for something more upstream but totally not in hurry

 

[inthere]

Headphones need a lot of burn in time, just opened a box of Focal Utopias and they're getting disgraced by pretty much everything I put them against so far. I have no doubt though that the tables will turn once I put 200+ hours on them.

 

[waynes world]

Headphones need a lot of burn in time, just opened a box of Focal Utopias and they're getting disgraced by pretty much everything I put them against so far. I have no doubt though that the tables will turn once I put 200+ hours on them.

 
Looking forward to your ongoing impressions!

 

[nmatheis]

The more I listened to Nighthawk at RMAF, the more I fell in love. If you guys love Nighthawk, try HiFiMAN Edition X. It's another high end headphone that some dismiss as being dark, but I find it immensely natural, musical, and listenable. It also sounds amazing straight out of an iPhone. Pretty sure RedJohn456 will vouch for me on this one

 

[Hi-Fi EDU]

@nmatheis Glad you finally got to try out the NHs. Took ya long enough

but welcome to the club. When I listen for extended periods to a pair of headphones and find that I'd virtually change nothing about them, that's when I know I've hit the end of the road. That's the NH to me. The Edition X piqued my interest but the price tag is too difficult to stomach, especially after the NH. Appreciate the NightOwl impressions. Based on your comparison, I'd probably lean toward the NH as well. Out of curiosity, did Skylar's wife drop any hints as to any IEMs in the pipeline?

 

[nmatheis]

Man, I feel like I've just joined the Nighthawk family!

I agree that HEX are too expensive. That's why I haven't purchased any despite them being one of my all time faves. The revised version is even more comfy and fits me better than before. But for the same general relaxed, natural sound signature, Nighthawk has much, much better bang for your buck factor!

And no, I can't say anything one way or the other regarding IEM. Time will tell...